Claud chewed on something called a hamburger, a dish that had apparently come from a recipe obtained from the Celestia Ruins. Clutching on to two roasted buns of bread that had meat and vegetables inside, he stuffed his mouth eagerly, savouring the exquisite blend of flavours with delight.

Like him, Lily had also forgone any semblance of elegance whatsoever, and she gave off a childlike delight while chomping down on the hamburger too. Only Count Lostfon and Dust were eating their own hamburgers elegantly; one hand holding the two buns perfectly while the other swirled a glass of wine around.

They looked really cool, but Claud wasn’t going to admit that out loud.

“Ah, children.” Dust looked them the two of them. “So adorably in love and in their actions.”

Claud swallowed the bit of hamburger in his mouth. “Uh, are you talking about us?”

“You two are roughly twenty-six years of age,” said Dust. “Aren’t you two children?”

“Don’t think too hard about it,” said Count Lostfon. “To her, anyone below one hundred is a child. Seems to be a Shadowed One thing.”

“Uh, how about babies then?” Lily asked, having swallowed the food in her mouth too. “Like the ones waddling around the street.”

“They look like three,” said the count, “but their age is actually one to ten years old. They grow a bit taller every ten years, and look like a teenager at the age of hundred. The Shadowed Ones undergo their coming-of-age ceremony at two hundred.”

Claud felt his mind go blank for a moment as surprising facts stormed into his mind and took his common sense hostage. For a moment, the world seemed to spin around him, and he shook his head in a daze.

“W-wow,” Claud forced out. “And I thought you were an old man, count.”

“By human standards, I’m around five hundred. I’m plenty old, yes.” Count Lostfon shrugged. “I’ve been staying alive due to a generous helping of pure-ranked lifestones so far, though. Even if they’re not useful in burning a fifth circuit, they still give me life.”

“Wait, lifestones don’t help in burning the fifth mana circuit?” Claud asked.

“They do, but…just a moment.” Dust cleared her throat. “Ahem. I’m pretty sure I’m the one who’s supposed to do the explanation. While I appreciate your assist in leading up to this topic, attempts to fulfil the Great One’s promise in his stead is nothing short of an insult.”

“Oh, crap. Sorry.”

“You haven’t done anything yet, so don’t worry.”

“You two are quite close friends, huh?” Lily observed. “It’s…amazing.”

“I don’t really see why it’s amazing. A relationship between different races isn’t—”

“Not that,” said Lily. “I’m referring to the age gap. You must be millennia old, right? And yet you interact with him and us like equals and everything. That’s really cool!”

“How am I supposed to behave, then? I’ll have you know that the elders have eight to nine children on their knees everyday,” said Dust. “Age, as a measurement of maturity, is quite pointless. It does not reflect one’s virtues and strengths.”

Lily opened her mouth, but she was clearly stumped by that quiet assertion from Dust. After taking the time to think it through, Lily lowered her head. “You’re right. I apologise.”

Claud tilted his head. He didn’t get why she was apologising, but again, Lily was always far better at reading between the lines than him. She could figure out his alter egos easily anyway, so something like this really wasn’t all that surprising. Making a mental note to ask her about that, Claud picked up his abandoned hamburger and bit into it once more.

“I’m glad you understand,” said Dust. “Anyway, now that we’re at a good point, I suppose I should hand out my rewards. Information on the Second Tutorial…or the tribulation, as some might call it, and enough lifestones for you, Lily.”

Claud finished off his burger and gazed expectantly at the Dark Herald, who was pouring out another glass of wine, to Lostfon’s irritation.

“So, the Second Tutorial.” Dust, a Herald of the Great Dark, swirled her wine glass slowly. “I will not mystify my words, nor try to confuse everyone present by adding in information from my own world, so I’ll keep it as simple as possible.”

She clapped her hands once, and the world around Claud seemed to change slightly. The colours looked off by a hue or two, and the quiet night had been silenced entirely. The light shining down on them reminded him of the daylight in Lostfon; it felt weak, faint and hollow.

It was as if they were in a different world of sorts.

“Okay. We’re now safe. Your authority levels will not restrict you two now.” Dust paused. “This is a very rare privilege, by the way. Only with the intervention of the Great One himself can something like this happen, or in the right place.”

“Like Celestia,” Lily muttered.

“…The ruins of another universe. Yes.” The Dark Herald looked at the two of them. “I suppose we can go there for in-depth discussions, if push comes to shove and we run out of time. But let’s get this out of the way first.”

She took a sip from the glass. “The Second Tutorial is designed to filter out anyone who is weak in will. Upon its commencement, the trial-taker will fall unconscious, their mind transported into an illusory world of their own making. The rules of this world are aligned to the regrets and ideals of the trial-taker.”

“Regrets?” Claud asked.

“Yes. People are complex beings. Their desires, their interactions with each other…all of them produce a huge net. When two ideals conflict, or when one’s past regrets clash with one’s goal for the future…all this creates a vulnerability in one’s heart.” The Dark Herald set down the glass in her hand, and then looked at Claud. “The more vulnerabilities one accrues, the more prone they are to insanity.”

“And…this is bad, because?”

“Insane tetra-folders will cause a lot of damage, no matter where you are,” said Dust. “Therefore, this Second Tutorial is a pre-emptive measure to weed out those who are clearly incapable of holding on to such power and using it wisely.”

“It’s very complex, huh.”

“A lot of people take the first tutorial. The world would be overstraining itself if the first tutorial is one-tenth the complexity of the second,” Dust replied. “Power has a price. On both sides.”

Claud pondered for a moment, but decided not to ask his question in the end. He had a feeling that asking about his Personal Quest would lead to an incredibly bad chain of events, and even if they were in an area where Authority wasn’t an issue, he couldn’t trust Dust or Count Lostfon this much.

Opening his status mentally, Claud glanced at an entry.

[Personal Quest: One’s Order]

Quest introduction: To hold fate in one’s hand requires both knowledge and wisdom. Rediscover yourself, and recreate your conviction that drives your order.

Quest requirements: Impose order upon your tribulation.

Quest rewards: FiBoD:A??? evolves, 300 years of lifespan

Additional Remarks: Trigger a tribulation by bringing your Mana Circuit Superimposition to 4.00.]

What exactly did the quest want from him? Or would something change the moment his Second Tutorial start?

“Something wrong?” Count Lostfon asked.

“Just…wondering about what happens if one fails their tribulation,” Claud replied. “Yeah. Is it possible to retake it again?”

“Failure, huh? Your lifespan is directly lowered by fifty years,” said Count Lostfon. “Considering that the only things that should work for you or me now are pure-ranked lifestones, it’s a very hefty price. Lifespan doesn’t grow on trees, after all. And I’m told that there’s sometimes very significant mental trauma involved.”

“It’s better than death, I guess.” Claud took a deep breath. He couldn’t say that he was entirely sound; Claud knew better than anyone else that he was somewhat off his rocker. The amount of caution he used when doing anything was not natural, to say the least, and…

He shook his head. This wasn’t the right time to think about that.

“That’s all about the second tribulation I can tell you. Anything else, like how it’s generated, is beyond my knowledge and everything,” said Dust. “To sum it up, it’s a tribulation that sieves out those who have weak wills. That said, it’s not as easy as saying that you’ll never give up. To truly succeed, you’ll need to smooth over the contradictions in your mindset.”

She waved once, and the world returned to normal. Picking up the glass, she leaned back and said, “It’s about carving out your own path.”

With that cryptic statement, she got up. “I’ll be sending two chests of pure-ranked lifestones tomorrow. Make good use of it.”

“You two should rest now,” Count Lostfon added, a hint of dismissal in his voice. “I need to discuss something with Dust.”

Bidding farewell to the two of them, Claud and Lily got up and left.

“What are you going to do?” Lily asked.

Claud glanced at the gates behind them, and then smiled helplessly. “I’ll try to prepare for anomalies in my Second Tutorial.”

“Anomalies?”

“I’ll tell you about it if we visit Celestia again.”

Lily eyed him once, and then smiled. “You better not forget that, okay?”

Claud rubbed her hair in reply.